A giant replica of the World Cup trophy inaugurated in New York: it is made with 1.3 million LEGO bricks

Football fever has invaded the heart of Manhattan with an unprecedented art installation. Within the setting of Rockefeller Plaza in New York, the Danish toy giant LEGO has unveiled the largest brick replica of the FIFA World Cup on the planet. To bring this monumental FIFA World Cup replica to life, the design team had to convert the fluid, metallic forms of the original trophy into a modular plastic architecture, facing unprecedented static and weight balancing challenges for the Danish company.

The work was inaugurated by the legendary Brazilian defender Cafu, the only footballer in the history of sport to have played in three consecutive world finals. The former captain of the Selection placed the last symbolic pieces together with the fans, officially inaugurating the special Fan Zone which will remain open to the public until July 19th.

Eight months of development

The mammoth structure, designed by model designer Christophe Vietti inspired by the official collector’s kit, boasts an extraordinary height of over eight metres. A total of 1,363,402 assembled pieces were used to create it. The engineering development required an immense logistical effort: a team made up of 59 designers, builders and technicians worked for eight months, accumulating over 7,000 assembly hours in total.

Behind the visual impact of the sculpture lies a very long planning process that took place far from the United States. The concept phase, load study and subsequent physical construction were entirely managed within the LEGO Group’s specialized model production plant in Kladno, Czech Republic.

The karma of the 2026 World Cup: Belgium eliminates the USA and the teasing starts

The inauguration of the monument, however, had to deal with timing that was, to say the least, mocking for the host nation. A few hours after the presentation of the trophy, the United States national team was brutally eliminated from the 2026 World Cup in the round of 16 played in Seattle, overwhelmed by a clear 4-1 in favor of Belgium.

The match on the field was preceded by fiery international controversy due to political interference by President Donald Trump, who had telephoned the head of FIFA Gianni Infantino to freeze the disqualification of center forward Folarin Balogun. But the sporting “revenge” of the Red Devils was not long in coming.

Immediately after scoring the final goal, Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku mocked his opponents by improvising the Trump Dance on the pitch, imitating the famous presidential ballet. After the match, the Belgian Football Federation’s social account took things up a notch by publishing a photo of the celebration accompanied by the copy Overturn this (“Revoke/overturn this”), a clear dig at the attempted manipulation.

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